Manila Mayor Lito Atienza said that in order to neutralize criminal elements, a police force must have reliable and well-maintained patrol cars.
The vehicles, worth P6 million, would soon be turned over to the Western Police District (WPD) to beef up its fleet of patrol cars.
"It is not unusual for us to purchase vehicles for our policemen. We do this regularly. We have been giving them 20 patrol cars periodically to maintain the capabilities of the WPD mobile division," Atienza said.
At present, the WPD has about 50 vehicles. But this time, Atienza said, they are testing another make and model.
"We want to try this new model. It is supposed to be an improved version," he said. "We are trying to give the police force the best that we can afford. We wanted something durable and maintainable."
His target is to raise the number of police vehicles to 80 so that police can boost their response time.
"Right now, we have 50 mobile units moving around. We should have at least 80 patrol cars actively moving around the city so that at any given time a citizen calls the police, within five minutes the patrol cars should be there," the mayor said.
The city government said the WPD has to continue upgrading their patrol cars because their constant use, close to 24 hours a day, shortens a vehicle’s life span. – Evelyn Macairan